Your first memory of wanting to be..

I agree with @The Falcon I wasn't thinking about being wealthy when I got into this property stuff. I was focused on building my business with my business partner 5 years ago and wasn't ready to commit to property investment. Now I want to build up property portfolio because I enjoy the process of learning and acquiring. Will I ever be wealthy? That's not my concern. Will I ever build something that lasts? I endeavour to.

 

Stared thinking about money in grade 10 at a inner south-side public school . The manual red-head trade Teacher used to say to the whole class several times ,'IF" you go and work in a trade you will either be a millionaire by 35,or a chain smoker front bar drinker TAB horse dog football player investor wife basher with your kids on the same path..

With money i have had better times when i had nothing,because once it starts to build with different investemts and with the always there isrisks with venomous
snakes you get to meet along the way,the money car houses factors does not mean much at at all,holding onto everything and building on the modest start is the hard part..

 

When I was in my early 20s several decades ago, I was renting a room in a shabby shared house in London. For some reason one day the Landlord's mortgage statement got delivered to the house and another housemate opened it with all the other mail in the hallway. When I saw how little they were paying compared to what all of us tenants were all paying in rent, I had an awakening moment that led me on a path to property ownership. In my ignorance I thought at the time how 'unfair' it was that we were being charged so much when it was costing them so little! I am not particularly wealthy and I don't have a large property portfolio but I look back on that moment and recognize it as a fork in the road.

 

Never had an interest in money, but always managed it well.

Parents divorcing when I was in my early 20s was a catalyst - they worked their butts off and had little to show for it when dividing assets, so I decided to learn how to multiply my money. Didn't read my first book on wealth creation until probably age 27. Then got focused.

Still no direct interest in money, but I have a burning desire to positively impact a lot of people. Financial resources will give me many more ways to achieve this.

 

Really enjoying the insights on this post.

 

When I was 14 I told my grandma that I'd be the first rich person in our family. Basically because of how poor we were and I didn't want to spend the rest of my life being poor.

Well I'm not rich yet but hopefully on my way there!

 

Great post @Steven Ryan ,
Same here, no direct interest in money but i know it's power and have been very lucky in the past ten years or so since i moved to OZ to be able to use it to help my family out when they needed it the most but the main reason why i decided that i need to be financially strong was a work accident that put my little brother in a coma (He's healthy strong young man now ).

My parents couldn't cope financially as the bill was pretty much higher than my dad's Super even after he withdrew it all as a lump sum... Being overseas and travelling back home wasn;t possible bak then, money was the only way i could support the family and i was able to cover the rest of the bill and rehab and... that's when i realised that i need to be in a good financial position in order to help my family and friends when needs be.

Not rich but doing well thankfully and sure plan on making my financials stronger by the day to support the above. I do reward myself every few years with a new Motorcycle though

 

Thanks for the advice Leo. I want to start investing but like like I don't know where to look and what is a good deal that will make me money. I cant apply until my wife is off maternity leave as we already got knocked back for a loan because we are only on one wage.
I am just about finished my builders licence so that should open a few doors for me in the near future.

 

Congrats on the builders licence mate. It makes sense to me that maybe you may want to try to get into some small devs in the future? Having the building background will definitely come in handy.

 

I remember being 17, dissatisfied with growing up poor, always fretting about financial problems & telling an Uncle that I would own my own home & be financially able to retire by 40.... it took me until 42.
He laughed at me at the time.... which was fair if I'm honest, since I failed high school. But now I'm the one doing the laughing.

Like many others, I never aspired to be wealthy (nor am I by any measure) but just wanted to be free from the financial stresses of my upbringing. I've also enjoyed travelling & raising a family along the way.

Enjoy the journey

Indi

 

Isn't it funny how kids see something completely different.

We started off with not a lot of money, and facing near bankruptcy several times, but me being a stubborn person was not going to roll over, & as a family we made the choice to dig our heels in & get through it. OK....me & Hubby...the kids weren't too keen. There's a few long posts over on SS about some of the issues we faced & came through at that time.

However, as we got through this & moved along, I decided (more than once, unfortunately), that we would never be in that position again. So, we made some tough choices, which impacted Lil more than the rest of us.

Being the youngest child, she didn't really understand the concept of wants versus needs, and would argue constantly about how unfair it was that she couldn't have all the things that her friends had. However, we DID spend a lot on them, but it was for their sport, not on silly playstation games & brand name clothes. They got to see the Country, and even compete internationally, all done on a single, not so high, income.

So, when Lil says we were struggling, I have to look back, and ask at which point in time was she referring to, because there certainly was a huge struggle at one time, but not later after we got back on our feet due to a failed business, although through the eyes of a child, it could be thought that it was the entire time due to the perception that they were missing out on all the consumer goodies, which I'm still not a fan of.

Anyway, now as an adult, I know she looks back & sees some of the same things with hindsight. I know there is now an appreciation of what we tried to do for the kids, and I can see the wonderful, intelligent, hard working, and ambitious person she has become. I see only good things in her future.

I'm also sure, that as she was old enough to see what we went through, that it will continue to inspire her to strive for the best she can be. I know for sure, if things had been easy for us, we would not be where we are today.

 

As a kid, I didn't realise how much went into skating, nor how lucky I was to be travelling for my sport and everything else I did. All I saw is that I had hand me downs, op shop clothes, cheap Kmart items etc and all my friends had everything I wanted and felt I "should" have had at that time.

Fortunately I grew up, and I think it also put it into perspective when we all moved to Mt Druitt and some of my friends had never been to the city - let alone interstate or overseas. By this stage I was about 12 though and it would've been around then that you were on Somersoft, buying more properties, and C and I helping with those properties that things started falling into place.

I still hated being made to save my money, because at the end of the day no matter how clever I was I was still a teenage girl and very much acted like one. Despite me being on SS since I was 13 or 14 and telling everyone else what they should be doing, it wasn't until I was 16 or 17 that I appreciated everything you'd done.

Now being married with a child myself, I appreciate it even more. I can only hope when Benji grows up he will see everything James and I will teach him with the same appreciation.

Enough with the warm and fuzzy's now. Let's stop hijacking the thread.

 

Good on you Brian.
Sounds like you're in no rush, use that momentum to continue reading/learning/developing your strategy.
You should have some decent equity after all the work you've done at your place too!

 

Hehe, I used to laugh to myself about this all the time. So much wisdom in someone so young, who handed out knowledge to so many (and it was GOOD stuff too), and yet could not see the same logic in her own life. You were never a 'normal' child. Always the chameleon, who fits into whatever group you associate with and fit in with all the adults, in an investment forum, advising people on their multi million $$ portfolio's was my little 14 year old. A true prodigy with a love of Real Estate!

Then you'd walk out the door to hang out with your mates, & you'd change into a 'real' teenager.

You have no idea how many people would message me & say "Hey, did you tell her to say that?" Nope, it was all you! And that's why I know you'll get through all that life throws at you. You're smart, tough, intelligent & a right stubborn little so & so when you put your mind to something.

OK, OK, I kept up the warm & fuzzy's ..... but only because it's true.

 

I've never read this particular book by Robert Kiyosaki, but could not agree more with the title -
If You Want to be Rich and Happy Don't Go to School

Alternatively, I'd say don't take school too seriously.
Studying for tests is a waste of time.
Creativity and problem solving are what count in the real world.

 

Boats... great big boats... were passing us by. I was with dad in our 10year old tinny crabbing on the swan, and to be honest loving it.
But these boats... massive things... just kept driving by. I asked dad "how can someone afford one of those". He said "I dont know... they do something different to us".

It was at that point that I decided to find out what it was that "they" do differently. And so it begun.

Blacky

 

Inspiring.

 

@Blacky would love to hear from your perspective what the 'they do differently' is mate.


Cheers

 

You forgot one thing... Make sure your partner (if you have one) is on-board with your goals. Otherwise you'll feel like you're dragging an anchor on your journey to financial freedom.

 

This is a really good point. I know of at least 1 person who is passionate about building some wealth for a more comfortable life as he gets older but his wife is completely uninterested to the point that she refuses to even see any of the IPs he bought. She also is nagging him to sell all his ips all the time, not that they need to. Really hard position to be in, I would hate to face that. Would have to find a compromise at some point I would think. Unfortunately they are actually facing divorce from realising how different they are on almost everything. Sad, as they have 3 young kids.